Imbroglio
by Vaniwa
Summary: [Definition of imbroglio:] 1: a confused mass. 2a : an intricate or complicated situation (as in a drama or novel). Hogwarts is about to close, and only they can save it, resulting in a memory only they will remember. Sharing a past memory that no one else can know about, can result in some unwanted improvement of their relationship.
1. Wishing back lost minutes

**YEAR III:** _Scared to get close_

 **Chapter 1: Wishing back lost minutes**

 _ **A/N:** I own nothing except my mistakes. **Also,** this story takes place midway through their third year, and will continue all throughout war, and maybe until after. So be in for a long journey!_

"Yeah, you're not dangerous at all, are you?" Hermione whipped her head to the snarky voice, watching in horror as Buckbeak protectively kicked out in front of him, crashing his hoof right in Malfoy's face, who tumbled backwards with the force.

A shriek came from her right, Pansy Parkinson rushing to Malfoy's side, who laid motionless on the ground with blood pouring out of his nose in a fast pace. "Do something, you dumb oaf!" Pansy bellowed at Hagrid, who stood rooted to the spot.

He seemed to snap out of it at last, and hurried to Malfoy's side and scooped the unconscious boy in his arm, quickly dismissing the class and taking quick paces out of the forest. "I don't know who to feel more sorry for. Hagrid, Malfoy, or Buckbeak." Ron muttered by her side, then scoffed as he shook his head. "Although, probably not Malfoy. The git had it coming."

Hermione shook her head in disapproval at her best friend. Yes, what Malfoy did was reckless and incredibly stupid, but he looked horrible. The blow had knocked him unconscious, and even though she couldn't really make out the damage underneath all the blood, it didn't look all that good. "Come on, let's head back to the castle." Harry offered, giving a last stroke to Buckbeak's beak, trying his best to comfort the panicked bird.

"D'you think he'll be all right?" Hermione wondered, panting lightly as they walked up the steep hill. "Who cares, it's only Malfoy. Actually, I'd pay to see his face all distorted." Ron grunted, struggling with the leather strap of his bag that was hanging on just a few threads. "It's not Malfoy I'm concerned about. What do you think it'll do to Hagrid? I mean, he just had his very first class. And like it or not, it _is_ Malfoy. Who knows what will happen to Hagrid?" Hermione said, her brows furrowing in worry as she thought of Hagrid getting sacked.

There was no denying that Hermione had disapproved of Hagrid's teaching material as soon as she had laid eyes on Buckbeak, but the man had good intentions, no matter how clumsy he brought them sometimes. And after all that Hagrid's been through in his life, well, the least he deserved was getting the opportunity to teach a subject he absolutely loved. "We'll make sure nothing happens to Hagrid." Harry assured her, taking big strides as they neared the stone circle and passed over the wooden bridge.

"Hagrid?" Harry called out to the half-giant that rounded the corner of the Hospital Wing right as the trio walked into the castle. But Hagrid didn't look up, too preoccupied staring down at his handkerchief as he blew his nose, hiccuped sobs leaving his body. Harry exchanged a worried glance with Ron and Hermione before setting off in a sprint, catching up with Hagrid.

Hermione sped her own pace up as well, joining Harry shortly after along with Ron. "- sent me back out. Dumbledore's sayin' he'll have to owl Lucius Malfoy. It's a school's obligatory to notify the parents when a student's bin put at risk."

"How bad is he?" Hermione quipped, shooting a quick glance at the closed doors of the Hospital Wing. Hagrid waved his handkerchief around in dismiss, but spoke between sobs nonetheless. "Madam Pomfrey said she'll be able ter patch him up almost as new. Got a broken nose an' a severe cut on his cheek." Hermione sighed in relief, knowing the damage wasn't all that bad. It's something she'd be able to easily fix. "An' a concussion." Hermione's heart sank at that. Now, it was definitely treatable, but a concussion would surely need rest, even in the Wizaring world, and it would take a great toll on his education.

"What's gonna happen to you, Hagrid?" Ron asked, looking genuinely concerned for their big friend. Hagrid shrugged, his body shaking as more sobs came out. "I'm sure Dumbledore will do the best he can.. but if Lucius Malfoy gets word of what happened.."

The last seemed to draw the last straw for Hagrid, and he quickly excused himself as he took big strides out of the castle, leaving the trio to sulk in his absence. "If only Malfoy hadn't been such a fool to step out." Ron muttered angrily, his eyes fixated on the spot where Hagrid had just stood.

Releasing a shaky sigh, she took a quick glance at the empty corridor. "Not much we can do now. We'll have to wait for Professor Dumbledore's word, I guess." Hermione spoke gloomily, then readjusted the leather strap of her bag on her shoulder, hissing slightly out in pain at the heavy weight of it. "Wanna go to the common room?" The boys said nothing, both sunken deep into their thoughts, and instead gave a single nod, dragging their feet across the floor as they walked their way up the few stairs to the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione unloaded half her bag in the girls' dormitory, then refilled it with new books for all the subjects she'd have after lunch. When she had finished that, she left her bag on her bed, deciding to pick it up right before lunch would end, and joined Ron and Harry down in the common room, where they were sitting huddled up in a corner. More Gryffindor students had poured into the common room in the time she had been in the girls' dormitory, all third years who were heatedly discussing the previous events.

"Wanna play some Wizarding Chess?" Ron offered, breaking the heavy silence between the trio. Harry seemed to shake out of his thoughts, and gave an absent-minded nod, which was her cue to hurry up the stairs that led to the girls' dormitory, grab her History of Magic book, a scroll of parchment and a quill with some ink and bring that all back down and sprawl it out on the small wooden coffee table, indulging herself into her essay.

Despite her worry for Hagrid, she did still have an immense load of homework to finish, and she would need all the time she could get. Normally she'd be an hour short for her homework, but with Care of Magical Creatures class being cancelled halfway through, she might be able to finish her History of Magic essay in the time she had now before lunch would start.

"Hermione?" She jumped up as a hand came to a rest on her shoulder, gentle shaking her. Having been so focused on her homework, she hadn't even heard Harry and Ron call her name for five times prior to the shaking. "You coming to lunch?" They asked, a concerned furrowing of the eyebrows on both their faces. At first she thought they were still thinking of Hagrid, but when they remained an intense gaze on her and her homework, she realized that it was directed to her. Honestly, she was fine. A little tired, yes. More than overworked, for sure. Yet, she managed everything, and that's all that mattered.

"Yes, 'course. Give me one second, though." With that she dropped her almost finished essay on her bed – which was still three inches short. Well, originally it was one foot and five inches too long, but there was still one thing she really wanted to include – and then took her side next to Ron as they roamed through the corridors down to the Great Hall where they took a seat on the bench.

As if they had all been planning to look at the teacher's table as soon as they sat down, they looked simultaneously at it, trying to spot a certain half-giant, but a quick glance told them that he wasn't there. He wouldn't have been hard to miss, either.

Upon a closer look at the other teachers, though, Hermione noticed how tense all of them looked, every single one of them unable to get any of the food inside, while at the same time hundreds of students – half of which was still unaware of what happened to Malfoy – were happily chatting away and shoving food inside their mouths as if their lives depended on it.

Speaking of Malfoy, had he returned from the Hospital Wing yet? Hermione doubted it, and when she directed her gaze at the Slytherin table and spotted no sign of the platinum blond locks of a certain Malfoy, she averted her eyes back to her plate and forced herself to eat at least one slice of bread.

A certain tension seemed to hung in the air between all third years who just had Care of Magical Creatures – although other students seemed oblivious to this – and even Ron seemed to have trouble getting food down his throat. It wasn't so much knowing what had happened that had caused the distress; more what didn't happen yet that everyone was so afraid of. Especially the Gryffindors that had the best at heart for Hagrid.

"May I have all your attention for a moment." Dumbledore spoke, taking his stance at his owl lecturn. The chatter of a hundred students died out like the fire of a candle being blown out by the wind, and Hermione shifted her body to the front, so she could take a good look at their Headmaster.

The old man had a grave expression on his face, hesitating as his mouth was left agape, a strung of words caught behind his tongue that didn't seem to want to make it out into the world. Hermione wiped her hands on her robe, feeling them sweat up in anticipation. Never did Professor Dumbledore bother to make an announcement in a simple lunch, and it got her heart beating faster with each passing second.

"As many of you have come to hear, a fellow student, Draco Malfoy, has suffered a great impact in today's Care of Magical Creatures class." The whispers spread like wildfire throughout the Great Hall, many students who were still in the unknown asking their fellow Housemates what has happened. "Silence." Dumbledore ordered, and the students obeyed.

"In the name of the Ministry, I am to inform you that Hogwarts will be closed. Tomorrow morning the Hogwarts Express will be awaiting you all, and you're expected to pack your luggages before nightfall." Dumbledore spoke in lamentation. This caused a great explosion of outbursts from protesting students all around the Hall, one that even Dumbledore failed to silence. "He can't be serious!" Ron exclaimed, along with Dean and Seamus who chimed in with agreement.

Hermione, however, remained completely silent, stunned as she stared at her Headmaster who was sorrowfully gliding his eyes over the heads of students. "And on whose orders did the Ministry act, if I may ask, Professor?" Percy Weasley managed to yell over the rowdy crowd.

That questioned peaked everyone's interest, and they all fell quiet at once, looking at Dumbledore expectantly, who in turn let out a deep sigh. "I do suppose you all have the right for answers." He nodded, as if to agree with himself. "Very well."

"As it had been my duty to inform an injured student's parents, I have sent an owl to Mr and Mrs Malfoy, who have taken actions." Dumbledore said, but no single person had a chance to react before one other person beat them to it. "That foul git! I bet you anything he begged his father to have a word with the Ministry." Ron roared in angry, a little too loud in the dead silence.

"Mr Weasley," Dumbledore bellowed, shooting the boy a hard stare. "I can assure you that the consequences have been entirely out of Draco Malfoy's hands." Ron scoffed in disbelief, so Dumbledore continued. "Lucius Malfoy has taken it on his own to justify the damage done to his son."

Seamus was the first to speak up, a bitter snark on his lips as he spoke. "And what makes Malfoy so special? What power has his father to control the entire Ministry for a shutdown of Hogwarts?" If possible, his Irish accent came out even stronger than it usually did. "Yeah," a lot of students from all Houses hummed, agreeing with Seamus, wondering the same question.

Even Hermione had her interest peaked, wanting to know the answer to that question herself as well. "With the exception of the First Years, I am certain that all of you remember last year," Dumbledore began, encouraged by the acknowledging nods of students, "and considering the events that have happened with Ginny Weasley," it was almost a comical sight to see each head's student turn so fast to a very red faced Ginny, that Hermione almost burst out laughing if it hadn't been for the current situation. If anything, she felt like crying at the thought that Hogwarts might be closed for good.

"What happened today with Mr Malfoy seemed to have been the cue for the Ministry to conclude that Hogwarts isn't capable of protecting its students." Even the Slytherins, who would have wanted nothing more than anything to get revenge for what happened to Malfoy, seemed taken aback by the news. "That's rubbish!" A fifth-year Ravenclaw boy yelled, clearly outraged by the events. Like any one of them.

"All today's classes are dismissed, and the Head of your House will walk you all to your common rooms, and discuss the final arrangements of tomorrow." With that Dumbledore dismissed himself, leaving his owl lectern – to which the owl folded his golden wings back in again – and hurried off the platform down the small stairs.

His robes flared behind him, a million questions thrown his way as students were left in their confusion, but he ignored them all. "Miss Granger," Hermione raised both her eyebrows in surprise when her Headmaster came to a stop in front of her, "a word, please." Without waiting for a reply, he continued his pace out of the Great Hall.

Hermione swallowed, though it was difficult to do. Her throat had seemed to clench shut, unable to even get a word out as she exchanged questioning glances with her best friends. Knowing they didn't have a clue on why she was called either, she decided it was best to find out for herself, and hurried off the bench as she ignored all the stares of the students that were watching her follow Dumbledore.

"Professor?" Hermione quipped, joining him by his side as they practically ran up the marble staircase. Well, with his long legs he simply managed to skip ten skips at a time, whereas she wouldn't manage to get more than five and thus had to ran. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but we're short on _time_." Dumbledore spoke in between breaths, emphasising his words as if she was supposed to know what he meant.

Which on second thought, she did know what it meant. "Time.." She whispered to herself, then sped up her run even more as they had reached the fourth floor. "Professor, you can't possibly mean that-" but she was caught short as he threw a quick glance over his shoulder at her, his eyes full of worried determination as he gave a curt nod. "That's exactly what I mean, Miss Granger."

"Where are we heading?" Hermione asked, hundreds of questions soaring through her mind, but deciding to get the easiest one out first. Yet, he didn't have to answer as they rounded another corner and walked straight to the grand doors of the Hospital Wing, which opened with a flick of Dumbledore's hand. What in the world were they visiting Malfoy for? "Poppy, if we may, please." Dumbledore spoke politely, though there was undoubtedly no room for arguing in his sentence. "Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey exclaimed in surprise, then swayed on her spot as she took a wet cloth from Malfoy's forehead before at last taking off into her office.

Taking a good look at Malfoy, she saw how well Madam Pomfrey had already patched him up. His broken nose had been fixed, and with all the blood cleaned up, he seemed almost the same as before he got injured. The only difference was the cut on his left cheek, that was currently covered in a green healing cream. "How are you feeling, Mr Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked, slowing his pace down as he stood at the foot of the bed, Hermione coming to a halt at a good two feet away from the bed. "As if I've just been attacked by a bloody chicken." Malfoy sneered, wincing in pain as he tried to straighten up. Right, he was suffering from a concussion, she almost forgot.

"Have you heard of the outplayed events?" Dumbledore asked curiously. Hadn't the Headmaster bothered to share the news with the so called victim at hand first before telling the school? "What are you on about?" Malfoy asked sceptically, shooting a glance her way, and his face contorting in disgust as if she was fouling the air.

Dumbledore took a good minute to summarize the entire situation, which Hermione found rather pointless. What was the Headmaster hoping for as a reaction? Surely he would know as well that Malfoy would be pleased to hear that the school got punished for injuring him. Yet, the hopeful shimmer in the old man's eyes remained, and by the time he was finished Malfoy's sneer had already fallen, and a simple look of annoyance remained on his features.

"What did you do, Father?" Malfoy muttered to himself as he propped himself up higher in bed, despite his body's clear protests. "What are _you_ here for?" Malfoy said, his sneer returning as he looked up at her. "No need to look at me like that, Malfoy. If I could I would have never stepped a foot into the same place as you." Hermione squinted her eyes in anger, hoping to shoot actual daggers with her hard glare. He might not have called the shots to shut down the school, but his father still did cause the result.

Before the situation could escalate Dumbledore chimed in, sharing a quick look between the two students. "She has come on my request." Both remained silent, each wanting answers on why Hermione was here with them. "Last Summer I was in the heart of London, enjoying one of the Muggle's newspapers when I stumbled on an article." Hermione's mouth dropped open in disbelief at the starter of his explanation. Was he honestly going to bring something like that up now? "The woman who wrote it had a curious view on how we spend our time, and as she so nicely put it: _'Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters.'_ and in this moment I can't help but find myself agreeing with that saying." Even Malfoy, who hated Hermione with a passion and had accepted the unspoken agreement that they were enemies, looked at her as if Professor Dumbledore had gone nuts.

She was almost about to return that look, when she remembered how their Headmaster had told her that they were short on time as they were running to the Hospital Wing. With the realization dawning on her, she unconsciously reached her hand to her neck, gliding her fingers across it until she felt the metal of a chain, and pulled the entire necklace out from under her robes.

Upon the sight of her precious Time Turner – a device she had gotten from Professor McGonagall at the start of Third Year so she could attend all her classes – Dumbledore smiled in confirmation. "The bloody hell is that ugly thing?" Draco asked, wrinkling his nose at the necklace. "I do believe, Miss Granger, that you and Mr Malfoy can help this school from a downfall."

Hermione let her fingers glide over the material, staring at it in fascination, as if it was the first time she had seen it. "Why do I have to join?" Hermione asked at last when she snapped out of her trance, and looked up at her Headmaster. As far as she could see it, Malfoy was the only one who could truly take actions to change the outcome.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow in amusement, as if it had been a needless question to ask. "As far as I know, you're the only one around who knows how to work it safely." Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, thinking that over. "Professor McGonagall knows how to." Dumbledore released a soft chuckle. "We aren't especially authorized to mess with time, if you know what I mean, Miss Granger." She did. If the Ministry would find out that she used the time turner for any other occasion than school, and especially on a teacher's order, then they would be in even more trouble.

"What do you want us to do?" Hermione asked eventually, making up her mind. If she could do something to prevent the school from getting closed, even if it meant breaking a very important rule, then she was more than ready to help. Dumbledore nodded in satisfaction, clearly agreeing with her willingness to cooperate. "I believe four turns will do."

"Four turns? What are you all bloody on about?" She had completely forgotten about Malfoy's presence until he spoke up, and one look at his face told her he was less than happy about being left in the dark. "Mr Malfoy," Dumbledore carefully began. Even he knew that it was utmost important to get Malfoy on their side, because there was no way this would work without him. "Do you wish for Hogwarts to close?"

Malfoy looked at the man suspiciously, as if it was a trick question. "'Course not," Malfoy at last spoke, albeit a bit careful. Contrary to popular belief, Hermione knew how much the education meant to Malfoy. He might be an absolute brat, but he was smart enough to know better than celebrate that soon he'd have all the time in the world without an education. After all, that wouldn't land him a job in the future. "Due to the actions of your Father, however, I fear that'll happen."

"If you came here to punish me for my Father's actions-" he didn't get to finish that as Dumbledore interfered. "Actually, I came here to do the opposite. I want to offer you a chance to set things right." It surprised her to see how conflicted Malfoy looked, as if he was contemplating to be the good guy for a second or not. "And how exactly would I be able to do that?"

Professor Dumbledore nodded at the device hanging around Hermione's neck. "Surely you have heard of a Time Turner?" Malfoy nodded. Of course he had heard of it. Which Wizard family, especially one where a family member worked in the Ministry, hadn't heard of such a powerful device?

Malfoy looked at the Headmaster expectantly, waiting for him to continue, but when it soon became clear that Dumbledore was waiting for Malfoy to figure the rest out on his own, he at last lowered his gaze as a soft, "Oh" escaped his lips.

Hermione couldn't help but shoot a look over her shoulder as she watched the time tick by on the clock the longer Malfoy remained silent, completely emerged in his own thoughts, the only sign that he was thinking it over was the deep line in his forehead. "Okay." He said at last, and Hermione let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. If they'd wait too long, then they would hit the five hour mark, which was the absolute maximum of how far you could travel back in time without endangering things.

Dumbledore nodded with a smile, then took a step back. "I'll leave you two to it, then." With that Dumbledore brushed past her, grabbing the wooden doors by the handles. "Oh, and Miss Granger," he said before closing the doors completely, "try to not get seen." And with that the doors fell shut and Hermione was left alone with her enemy.

"So what's the plan?" Malfoy asked through thin lips. It took him a great effort to communicate properly with her, though she was glad he was wise enough to know that it was for the best. If they spent time bickering away, then there was no way they could make a change. "Okay," Hermione said, trying to push her disdain for the boy in front of her aside, and sat herself down on a bed next to him.

"We go back in time," Hermione started, but was interrupted immediately by Malfoy who muttered "Obviously" under his breath. Shooting him a hard glare, she continued. "We go back in time, and we somehow get our past selves momentarily out of the picture." Hermione racked her brain as she quickly ticked back the hours. Where were they exactly four hours ago? 

Last hour they spent eating lunch.. then a free one and a half hour where they had been dismissed from class.. and one and a half hour actually spent in class. Which, with a glance at the clock, would leave them exactly fourteen minutes before the class started if they went back in time now. "Where were you four hours ago?" Hermione asked, her words nearly inaudible by the speed they came out.

Malfoy scoffed, "On my way to class, of course." Hermione rolled her eyes, grumbling impatiently. "Where were you exactly?" She really didn't have time for vague answers. Malfoy took a second to think. "I was in the Dungeons, on my way to the Slytherin common room, about to retrieve that hideous Care of Magical Creatures book." Hermione quickly mentally noted that. "Anyone with you?" Malfoy was about to comment on her question, but she raised a threatening eyebrow. "No, Crabbe and Goyle went up ahead." Good.

"Okay, listen to me. We go back in time, and we split up. I'll go down to the dungeons where your old self will be, stun you - "Stun me?" Draco exclaimed, - "just a simple Body-bind curse, Malfoy, and you'll do the same to my old self. I'll be in the library, packing my books in row fourteen in the far right corner. After that we walk to Hagrid's hut separately, and make sure you don't get hurt in any way by Buckbeak."

"Hang on a second, why are we not just body-binding our own selves?" Hermione stood up, her temper seriously running out. They were losing a lot of time. "We don't have a second. Didn't you hear what Dumbledore said? We can't be seen. That includes us. What do you think will happen if we see _ourselves_?"

Hermione pulled on her necklace, and was glad that it was big enough to fit two heads. "Get your hands off me, Mudblood!" Hermione ignored the stung of his words, thn swatted his arm away as he tried to push her off him. "We don't have time for your rubbish disgust towards me, Malfoy." Hermione shot a quick look at the clock, and Malfoy did a same. The little time they still had made him swallow back his protests, and she took this as her chance to wrap the chain around his neck as well, turning the small hourglass four times and allowing herself to be lurched back into time.

 _ **A/N:** The quote that has been mentioned is from 'Margaret Peters', who holds full credit for it. _


	2. Time is precious

**Chapter 2: Time is precious**

 _ **A/N** : I own nothing except my mistakes._

"Okay," Hermione whispered, taking the necklace off of Draco's neck and tucked it back under her shirt. "Twelve minutes until class." With that she tucked away her pocket watch again, and scanned the Hospital Wing. Luckily for them no one was currently being treated, and the one second year boy that was in the Hospital Wing was currently sleeping.

"Where's my concussion?" Malfoy asked in surprise as he got out of his bed with ease. "We've gone back in time, remember?" Without waiting for him to catch up, she began striding through the Hospital Wing, though was held back only seconds after as Malfoy grabbed her wrist rather forcefully. "Careful, Granger." Malfoy hissed, nodding his head to the window of Madam Pomfrey's office, where Hermione could see that she had her head buried away in several scrolls of parchments, most likely reports.

Knowing it was indeed best to not be seen, she hunched down and made a more quiet escape from the Hospital Wing, only returning to a full standing position when she got out of the doors – which in her case were luckily already open. "Remember where I am?" Malfoy raised his eyebrow as if he she questioned whether he was stupid, most likely about to point out that she was right in front of him, until he realized what she had actually meant. "Library, fourteenth row, far right corner. Got it." He repeated lazily, and Hermione nodded in confirmation.

"See you in class." Hermione said, then paused when she realized how weird that sounded. If anything, this entire situation was beyond weird. It wasn't the first time she went back in time, but every time she had done so, nothing much would change in the future. The only thing that would happen was that she came back wiser because she'd studied a different subject at the same time.

This time, however, she'd actually make a major change, with the teamwork of her supposedly enemy. And what if they miserably messed up? What if somehow they'd be seen, or they'd make matters worse.. she hadn't even thought about that.

"Granger!" Malfoy hissed, and when she snapped out of her thoughts and looked around her, she saw Malfoy in the distance, about to round a corner but staring at her instead. All he did was tap his wrist with his finger, indicating that time was running out, and with a quick nod she got on her feet, making a run for it as she had quite a long road to go down.

Running from the fourth floor all the way down to the dungeons wasn't exactly a fun thing to do. What was even worse were all the stares people were giving her as if she was crazy, but then again, when they took a second look at her, they seemed to actually conclude that she had finally snapped and gave it no further thought as they continued with what they were doing before.

Hermione didn't exactly know whether to feel offended or grateful for that, though she opted to choose the latter for the moment as it suited her better. Hissing, she clutched her side as her muscles began to cramp, by no means used to the physical activity she was having right now, and was beyond glad when she could slow down when she had ran down the last set of marble stairs that led down to the dungeon.

Even luckier she was when she saw Malfoy – or well, Malfoy's past self – walking just three feet ahead, his hands casually propped in his pockets as he strode through the corridor. Without wasting time – which was precious more than ever now – she retreated her wand from her robes and aimed it at his back, muttering "Petrificus Totalus" under her breath and not feeling the least bit guilty as he crashed face forward onto the stone ground.

With a simple levitation charm she lifted him up in the air and opened the closest broom closet, stuffing him in there for the time being. As soon as his eyes landed on her she could practically see the fire that erupted in him, but she casually ignored it. If they succeeded in preventing Hogwarts from being locked down, then in four hours this Malfoy would be gone and he would have no memories of being locked in a broom closet.

Taking another glance at her pocket watch she gasped as she saw she had only six minutes to make it to Hagrid's hut, and thus she made another run for it as she ran back up the castle until she found her nearest way outside.

Last time when she walked her way down to Hagrid's hut she had went from Divination class to the library to pick up a book she'd need for her History of Magic essay later and then joined Harry and Ron outside again to talk about the idiocy of Divination class. This time around, though, she walked down the steep hill herself, showing up at Hagrid's hut only half a minute before the class would officially start, completely out of breath. "What took you so long?" Ron asked, leaning into her as Seamus and Dean were shoving each other around in a playful fight and bumping into Ron in the process. "Couldn't find the book I was looking for." She lied, casting a quick look around.

At last her eyes landed on a certain blond haired boy, who had joined his fellows Crabbe and Goyle, and who were all three standing at a good distance of the rest of the group, looking at everyone with disdain. His eyes flickered to her just seconds after she had spotted him, and when she raised a questioning eyebrow, in what she hoped he would understand would be the question 'Did you get me out of the picture?', he gave her a curt nod before averting his eyes again.

Glad to hear that her past self was out of the way, and so was Malfoy's past self, she let out a breath of relief as she got into pace with the rest as Hagrid guided them once more through the path in the forest. At least that was one thing that couldn't go wrong.

"Righ', you lot. Less chatterin', form a group over there." Hagrid said, pointing off in the distance. "And open yer books on page fourty-nine." Hermione looked up at Malfoy expectantly, almost mouthing the words he would surely say like he did four hours ago, but instead he remained silent, exasperatedly stroking the spine of the book with a smug smirk on his lips. As much as she hated that self-satisfied smirk, she couldn't help but needing to stifle a giggle at that.

Though Malfoy didn't ask, a lot of students still didn't know how to open their books, and instead it was Pansy who spoke up, "And how are we supposed to do that?" Hagrid looked at her incredulously, as if the answer was plain obvious. "Jus' stroke the spine, of course. Goodness me." He said as he walked off.

Neville tried to stroke the spine this time around again, and just like four hours ago, the book went all rigid and began attacking him. Despite his neglect to what actually happened in the past with him asking the question, Malfoy did not pass out on this opportunity to make fun of Neville again, and thus repeated his earlier sentence, "Don't be such a wimp, Longbottom."

Hermione didn't bother standing up for either Neville or Hagrid again, whatever energy she had left she wanted to spare that for the dreadful happening she wanted to prevent soon. And thus the confrontation between Harry and Malfoy never happened again either.

Her attention drifted off when Hagrid began introducing Buckbeak again, though it quickly got peaked when she literally heard Malfoy mutter, "Ugly beast." To which Hagrid scolded him for, saying what proud creatures Hippogriffs were, and that he shouldn't insult them. Even Buckbeak was angrily shoving his hoof into the ground as his eyes were fixated on Malfoy.

Malfoy was about to remark on what Hagrid said, but Hermione snapped her head around, making eye contact with him and sending him a threatening glare. Honestly, if he was going to mess things up now, then they were all screwed. With an exaggerated roll of his eyes he angrily bit into the apple he was holding, focusing back on Buckbeak.

"Now, who would like to come an' say hello?" Hagrid asked, and though Hermione felt sorry for leaving Harry on his own once more, she needed events to play out as much as they did prior to the time travelling so she would have more control over the situation. And again, Harry was picked out and forced to make interaction with the bird.

Unlike last time, she was unfaced when Buckbeak began to flap his wings around, knowing he was going to be just fine, and thus didn't reach out for Ron's arm in fear like last time. As expected, Harry remained unharmed and was placed once more on Buckbeak's back, and soon soared off into the sky.

Sighing, she knew they had to wait at least a good three minutes until he returned. If it wasn't more.

Hermione took a nice place on the stone fence that surrounded the patch they were all grouped at. Scanning the group in front of her with her eyes, she grew rather bored of the exact same conversation she had heard not long ago as well. Malfoy, however, caught her attention as he tossed his finished apple somewhere in the woods, and then landed his eyes on her.

Before she had time to even give any sign of acknowledgement to him, Ron joined her side just like four hours ago, seating himself rather awkwardly as if he didn't know how much distance to keep between their bodies. "Wonder if Harry has fallen off yet."

Now, last time he said that it made her laugh, and this time around it wouldn't have, but then she made eye contact with Malfoy again right as Ron said that, and saw him mouthing Ron's words along with him. At this she released a laugh, to which Malfoy's lips tugged upwards into a smirk.

"Well, well, Weasley, got yourself a girlfriend?" Malfoy mocked as he came striding over, causing Hermione to raise her eyebrows inquiry. He didn't do this four hours ago, what was he playing at now? Maybe because he hadn't had his confrontation with Harry he now sought one out with Ron. Was that how his brain worked?

Malfoy, however, straight out ignored her look as his smirk grew. Along with the shadow he brought as Crabbe and Goyle joined both his sides, blocking the sun. "Shut up, Malfoy." Ron said, hopping to his feet to make himself bigger. "Nothing to be embarrassed of, Weasel-Bee." Hermione sighed, rolling her eyes as she hopped off the stone fence herself as well. "Though are you sure Granger's worth your _time?_ "

"C'mon, Ron, don't waste your energy." More like don't waste hers either. The worse had yet to happen – or preferably not happen – and she would like to not be distracted by then. With a taunting glare at Malfoy she pulled on Ron's arm, distancing them both from Malfoy, who only smirked at them as she dragged Ron along.

Soon enough Harry came soaring back, slowly landing to the ground and being pulled into a hug by cheering Gryffindors. "That was wicked, Harry!" Many exclaimed, but Hermione couldn't bring herself to smile as she saw Malfoy pushing through the crowd and stepping towards Buckbeak.

Had he officially gone mad? This entire travelling back in time had been to _avoid_ this so it wouldn't cause trouble for Hogwarts in the future, and here the git was, striding over to the threatened Hippogriff. "Yeah, you're not dangerous at all, are you?" Malfoy repeated, though there was such a contempt in his voice that it didn't sound convincing at all.

Without having any time to pull him back, she watched in equal horror as four hours ago as the Hippogriffs went onto the back of his legs and kicked out in front again, though this time Malfoy was quick enough to raise his arm to shield his face from any damage. Still knocked back from the force, it at least looked less horrible than it had done four hours ago. Yet, Malfoy whimpered away, and before Hermione knew it, she felt her legs carry her forward as Hagrid stood once more frozen to the spot. "Hagrid!" She exclaimed, "he has to be taken to the hospital!"

Hagrid nodded vigorously, saying he would do it and then dismissed the class once more. Despite her initial shock, she had a feeling that none of his pain was actually sincere. In fact, his whimpering sounded so exaggerated that she knew he was just fine.

What in the world did he do that for, though? She knew that Dumbledore wouldn't owl his parents for this, because the most he would have would be a sore arm – she hadn't seen any blood – and so the injury wasn't serious enough to notify the parents. So, most likely the school wouldn't suffer, but why still frame Hagrid?

Feeling more furious than she perhaps should show, she willed herself to take a good few deep breaths as she joined Harry and Ron's side, walking slowly back to the castle, though this time the conversation was a lot less serious. "Serves him right." Ron commented, slinging the robes he wasn't wearing over one shoulder and again messing with his bag that was seriously going to give way one of these days if he did not fix that strap.

"Guess it does." Hermione muttered under her breath as she once more clambered the steep hill. Last time she felt slightly sorry for him when she saw all the blood – albeit for just a few seconds – but now? She actually felt like punching him in the face herself just to draw some blood for pulling the stunt he had.

"I'm off to the library." Hermione announced, and Ron stopped dead in his tracks, looking at her incredulously. "We just got one and a half hour free. What are you off to the library for?" Hermione raised a challenging eyebrow at him, shaking her head in disbelief at that question. Did he honestly need to ask? "Making good use of my time to do my homework. You should try it sometime, Ronald." In all honesty, she did not mean to sound so snarky, but after all that had happened and the fiasco with Malfoy, well, it was safe to say that she was more than done with this day.

Her sudden change in attitude didn't remain unnoticed by her two best friends either as they shared startled glances with each other. "You all right, 'Mione?" Harry asked, a genuine look of concern on his face.

Releasing a shaky breath, she opted for a faint smile as she nodded. "Sorry, I suppose I'm just a bit stressed." Harry nodded in understanding, and his features turned even more worried. "I really think you'd do well dropping some subjects." As if that was going to happen. "Yeah, I'll think about it." Hermione lied, and with one last smile of Harry she said the two goodbye and parted ways with them.

Now, even though she did plan on going to the library, she decided to first drop by the Hospital Wing that was right around the corner, just to have a little word with a certain white haired boy that had completely ruined her day for the second time around.

"Malfoy!" Hermione hissed loudly as she saw him walking down the corridor, his arm in a sling. Malfoy came to a slow halt, turning around casually as if he had been expecting to be called out by her. "Hello, Granger." He greeted, a taunt lingering to his voice.

Looking the corridor up and down to check that they were alone, she closed the gap between them two in four long strides, so that she was right in front of him. "What in the world is wrong with you, Malfoy?" Hermione exclaimed, yapping her finger into his arm with each word she spoke. Malfoy hissed, feigning more pain than he surely felt, angering her even more. "Oh cut it off, Malfoy."

A sneer grazed his lips, and she could almost see the vein on his forehead begin to throb, but before it even had a chance to do so he calmed down and let out a satisfied chuckle. "Honestly, Granger, you didn't really think I'd agree to go back in time, especially with someone like you, without getting something out of it?"

Hermione raised a questioning eyebrow at him, sincerely confused at what he was getting at. "What d'you mean get something out of it?" Malfoy released a laugh, but there wasn't any humour to it. If anything, it was bitter. "Old man was right, I don't want Hogwarts to get closed. Yet, go back and let the dumb oaf get away with bringing these hideous ugly beasts into class?" He shook his head, unable to continue as his face distorted into disgust. "Owled my father just now, told him how Hogwarts has gone to the dogs."

Her breathing got ragged, blood pumping faster and faster with each word coming out of his self-righteous mouth, very aware of the wand resting inside her robes, and feeling the rising urge to grab it and show him what a prick he was.

Instead, however, she opted for a good set of words. "If Hagrid or Hogwarts suffers in any way because of your actions, I swear to Merlin, I will let you pay for it, Malfoy." Hermione said through gritted teeth, then turned on her heel without a second glance his way, unable to look at that arrogant face of his, disgusted to her bones.

Worst of all was that she couldn't even rant to her best friends about what a stuck-up brat he was, because they would never know that she had gotten back in time _with_ her enemy, worked together with him to prevent Hogwarts from closing down, and only have it end up with Malfoy framing Hagrid in the end. And what if Hagrid did get sacked in the end? Would that have been her fault as well? She should have seen it coming. It was Malfoy, after all. That was as close as making a deal with the devil. It would just never end right.


	3. The all-knowing

**Chapter 3: The all-knowing**

 _ **A/N** : I own nothing except my mistakes._

"He's really laying it on thick, isn't he?" Ron muttered in disgust, and Hermione followed his gaze through the Great Hall, landing her eyes on the blond haired boy who was putting on a big show of making sure his friends heard all about how damaged his arm had gotten.

Shooting a glare at the back of his head, she scrambled her things together and got up, "Come on, let's just go to class." She muttered in aggravation, not wishing to hear any more of Draco's exasperated lies. "I wonder what the class will be like," Ron said, his voice coming out muffled as he swallowed the last bite he was still chewing. "More like how long we'll have Professor Lupin for Defence Against The Dark Arts. They never seem to stay." Harry responded, shaking his head at the thought.

Hermione remained silent as they walked up the three landings, glad to know that she'd be having a class to take her mind off things soon enough. Taking the watch out of her pocket, she noted that it was just three minutes before class would start, and as if right on cue, Professor Lupin came walking around the corner. "I see you three are early." Ron shrugged, then gave him a lopsided grin. "We have our moments."

Professor Lupin chuckled, then opened the classroom doors and took his place inside at the front. Ron came to a halt midway in the room, a stupified look on his face as he shared uncertain glances with the two of them, "Where are the tables?" He asked.

"I've had them removed. We won't be needing them for this class." Lupin grunted, his voice coming out muffled as he was hunched over the teacher's desk and placed his bag behind it. "What could we possibly be doing to not need ta-" Hermione began to say, but was rudely interrupted as a certain white blond haired came strudding in. "Well would you look at that, Hogwarts's gone so far off that it seems to not even be able to suffice a student a table." Malfoy's voice drawled, an agitation hinting on the edge of his voice.

Biting her lip, she shot him a hard look, her eyes travelling down to the arm hanging in its sling, burning her stare at it so disapprovingly that it was no wonder that Malfoy's gaze abruptly switched to hers, who in turn only shot her a threatening raised eyebrow in disdain. "Go stare at your boyfriend, Granger. I don't need your lingering gazes."

Hermione scoffed, but averted her eyes nonetheless, laying a hand on Ron's arm as she saw him tense up. "Not worth it," she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear over the chatter that began to fill the classroom louder and louder the more students entered the room.

When Professor Lupin was certain that everyone was present, he introduced their subject at hand: _Boggarts._ This immediately peaked her interest, and disregarded any hateful thoughts to a snobbish git standing in the back of the classroom. Proudly she answered every question Professor Lupin asked, completely ignoring the sighs and jokes from a couple of Slytherin students, and was excited to give it a try.

Not so excited, however, was she when she saw Professor McGonagall step out of the cabinet who told her she failed all her exams. Friendly being reminded by Professor Lupin about the spell, she raised her wand at the woman and spoke with a trembled voice, _"Riddikulus!"_ ignoring the loud snicker of the boy she had forgotten about in her excitement beforehand.

Soon after came Harry's turn, but he never got to dealing with the Boggart, Professor Lupin interfering before the Dementor could shape-shift into something else. Taking this moment to check the watch she had in her pocket once more, she widened her eyes in surprise as she saw the time – six minutes before the end of class – and fumbled with the string of her Time Turner, giving it a single turn and watching with a renewed fascination as she went back in time once more.

How crazy was it to think she had done this with Malfoy not that long ago. She wondered if it would do any harm by using the Time Turner again so soon, but she had no choice. The ultimate reason why she had the Time Turner in the first place was to attend her all her classes, after all. What good would it do to fail a class by refraining from using it?

And so as she was back to where she was an hour ago, she bid a quick apology to Harry and Ron as they arrived on the third floor, and told them to go ahead without her, saying she had left her Herbology books in the common room, one that she would need for the hour after this.

When she was sure they were out of sight, she hurried up two more stairs until she ended on the fifth floor, and made it just in time for History of Magic. Though her energy was a bit drained from the Defence Against the Dark Arts class she had already done, she still managed to get a quite well written four feet of notes she had taken in the class, and was convinced that this would be useful enough to use for her essay she'd have to hand in next week.

The bell rang, and packing her things up, she had a spring in her step as she tried to hurry down three floors and through the Transfirguration courtyard to make it in time for Herbology. "Where were you?" Harry asked as she joined his side around the table, Ron looking at her in the same questioning way across the table. "Had to take a quick toilet break," she swiftly lied, and tucked the Time Turner back under her robes, eyes meeting with Malfoy across the room as he shot a curious glance at her disappearing necklace.

Coughing, she averted her eyes to the front where Professor Sprout was scolding Neville for touching the plant she had warned him not to touch just a few seconds before.

"So what'd you think about Professor Lupin's class, 'Mione?" Ron asked her at dinner, though Hermione couldn't bring herself to look at him, knowing what kind of sight awaited her as she had seen him stuff another potato in his mouth. "Intriguing," Hermione replied, dipping her spoon into her bowl of tomato soup once more, and blowing lightly on it to cool it down. "I wonder what he stopped me for, though," Harry said, his voice trailing off as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Hermione simply shrugged, emptying the last few spoons of soup out of her bowl before replying. "Maybe he feared what it would turn into," she suggested. "Wasn't thinking of anything bad," Harry said, sincerely curious. "I don't know, Harry, I guess he was just being careful. Anyway, I'm off to the library, I've got an essay that's due for next week," she said, stifling a yawn with her hand.

"Essay?" Ron asked, his head peaking up from his plate, a horrified look on his face. "Yes, History of Magic." He visibly relaxed, but then his features contorted into a puzzled look. "Wait, you can't possibly have History of Magic. It's at the same time as Defence Against the Dark Arts class, isn't it?" Harry wheeled around to look at her as well, nodding in agreement with Ron. "Oh, don't be silly, of course it isn't." Then dismissed them with a wave of her hand and a smile as she turned on her heel and left the Great Hall, avoiding any more questions. It wasn't always easy getting away with her Time Turning activities.

"Granger!" A voice hissed, one she desperately wished she could ignore. "What do you want, Malfoy?" Hermione asked impatiently, slowing her pace but not coming to a halt. She had no time for whatever he had to say, but more importantly, she didn't even want to hear it. She has had enough of him for a good long while.

"I saw you with the Time Turner today," he commented, not being defeated by her unwillingness to stop, and instead took a couple bigger strides until he was right beside her – though careful to keep a couple of feet of distance between the two of them. "So? You already knew I had it." She replied in a bored voice, focusing on the marble staircase underneath her feet that began to change direction, forcing her to grab the railing to stabilize herself. Great, now she'd have to take a detour to the library.

From the corner of her eyes she could see his stare, a burning curiosity layering over the sneer that seemed to have found a permanent place on his face. "You never told me why you had the Time Turner in the first place," he pressed on.

Scoffing, she arrived on the first floor and grumbled to herself as she now had to walk up an additional two floors thanks to the moving stairs. "I don't see why I should justify myself to you, Malfoy."

Malfoy grabbed a hold of her arm and forced her to a halt, releasing her arm as quick as he had grabbed it as if her skin had burned him. A snarl clung to her lips, unable to belief how disgusted he could be by her. "I know you're using it to get to all your classes," he said, closing the distance between the two.

Hermione saw a woman in the portrait on the wall shooting a surprised look at the two, as if seeing them together was the last thing she'd ever expect to see in this castle. "Well, aren't you a clever boy. If you're so smart to have figured it out yourself, why bother confronting me?"

Her eyes travelled down to his arm in the sling once more, and felt the surge of anger rushing back to her, and gave him no time to answer as her words left her mouth before her brain even comprehended her thoughts. "Or did you perhaps come to seek my help for your classes?"

The question got him rooted to his spot, looking perplexed before composing himself and forming a snarl on his lips and taking one final step forward, enough to force her to look up at him because he was too tall for her to do otherwise. "Watch your mouth, Mudblood. You aren't that safe without your puppets around."

With that he turned on his heel, his robes rumbling behind him as he walked back down the marble stairs they had come up with, and she continued to watch until he completed disappeared out of sight.

Growling in frustration, she shot the woman in the portrait a look, before muttering under her breath, "Enjoying the bloody show?" Which only earned her a disapproving click of the woman's tongue as she began to ramble about disrespectful teenagers roaming around the castle.

Having enough of that, she continued her way to the library, and sprawled her books out on a deserted table at the fifth row, where she retrieved the notes she had taken in History of Magic class and began her essay.

"Miss Granger," it wasn't until her name got repeated for a third time that she finally noticed she was being addressed, and with a startled gasp she stopped writing mid-sentence, only to look up and find a smiling man standing in front of her, his robes draped around his body and his beard having grown so long she wouldn't be surprised if it would reach the ground before she'd graduate from Hogwarts.

"Professor Dumbledore," she acknowledged, completely disregarding her essay now. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were here." The old man chuckle, folding his hands on top of each other and resting them on his stomach. "I could see that."

Giving her Headmaster a sheepish smile, she wondered what he could possibly want from her. "Is there a problem, sir?" Hermione asked when it became clear that he wasn't going to be the first to talk. "Actually, I was wondering that myself." Dumbledore shot a quick glance around the library, and as Hermione followed his gaze she could see the subtle glances thrown their way from stray students working on projects. "Ah, but perhaps it would be better to talk somewhere a bit more private?"

Feeling her heartbeat quicken, she gave a quick nod as she began to pack her bag, almost spilling her ink on her essay as she screwed the lid back on. A thousand thoughts raced through her head, though they were only centred around one thing: what could she have possibly done?

Closing her bag, she got up and ignored the stares from some fourth year Hufflepuff girls in the corner, and another stare from a second year Ravenclaw near the entrance. _I did nothing wrong._ She kept telling herself, as if it was a safe mantra that kept her sane. "Winegums," the Headmaster said, and if it wasn't for her anxiety, she would have smiled at his use of Muggle candy as a password.

"Have a seat," Dumbledore said, waving his hand in the direction of a chair in front of his desk, and proceeded to sit on the other side of it. Hesitantly, she did as she was told, and let her bag drop down next to her legs, feeling the comfort of the books pressing lightly into her, holding the strap between her hands and fumbling with it to create a sense of comfort.

The grey bearded man looked her over, his eyes reaching just over the edge of his half-moon spectacles, a sense of curiosity so very present that she began to wonder whether she had gotten here to be punished or to inform him that Muggles didn't actually bathe with rubber ducks.

"Sir?" He seemed to snap out of it, though wasn't caught off guard. He simply smiled at her, with such a sympathy as if he pitied seeing her in such an anxious state. "I got word tonight of one of the portraits on the first floor, saying she saw you and Mr Malfoy bicker." Remembering the woman all too well, and also how she had silently lashed out at her, she braced herself for the trouble she'd get in.

When she said nothing, he simply pressed on as gently as he could. "She said something about the use of a Time Turner, and I couldn't help myself but to wonder why in the world you would have told Mr Malfoy about such an important object that I for a fact know that even Mr Weasley and Harry do not know about."

Instead of looking angry, he had a light mischievousness over him as he leaned slightly over the desk, and raised a curious eyebrow as he lowered his voice, as if on the other side of the door the entire school was listening in. "Unless, of course, everything between you and Mr Malfoy is some kind of a facade.."

Momentarily caught off guard by Dumbledore's insinuation, she stopped him right there before his mind could wander too far off. "Oh, no, Professor, Malfoy and I are nothing like that. At all." She clarified, stuttering in the process and furrowing her brows together in utmost concentration as if she was trying to force the image of the two of them together out of her head. The thought of it grossed her out as much as seeing Ron talk with an open mouth as he ate.

Dumbledore chuckled, and leaned back in his chair again, raising his hands as he shook his head. "Do forgive my curiosity," he said in sincerity, then let his smile drop. "I do wish to know, though, how it happened that Mr Malfoy got word of the Time Turner?"

Hermione bit her lip, focusing her eyes on the strap in her hands, noticing how she had undone one thread in her stage of anxiety, and made a mental note to fix that later. She refused to be like Ron and not use a simple fixing charm on her bag.

What was she going to tell him, though? There was no way she could bring up the task he had given them in the past. What he did back then, asking his students to cross the Law was already a risky thing to do. If the Ministry of Magic would somehow catch word that Dumbledore had ordered them to do that, then he could lose his position as a Headmaster. Right now there was no possible way that the Ministry of Magic could catch word of it unless either Malfoy or she said anything.

So, as long as Dumbledore didn't know, then he should be fine. "Miss Granger?" He pressed, and she lifted her head, opening her mouth to say something, but closing it again in uncertainty as to what to say. 

"I, um-," Hermione shook her head, knowing she couldn't lie to the man in front of her without him knowing immediately that it was a lie. Yet, just because she couldn't lie, didn't mean she had to tell the truth. Though she wasn't good at it, she knew that to avoid telling a lie you could just tell someone a blank truth. Just leave out some details.

Well, that was easier said than done. As she stared into those warm eyes that forever seemed to hold a twinkle in them, at the moment even more illuminated by the reflection of flames from the torches on the wall, she wished for the very first time in her life that Malfoy was here. Was cunningness not a Slytherin trait? He'd talk himself out of this with a swift string of words. Something she would never be capable of – and neither ever dreamed to be.

"There has been an unfortunate occurrence," Hermione sheepishly admitted at last. Dumbledore raised both of his eyebrows, but remained silent, only nodding in encouragement for her to keep going. "It happened this morning at Herbology – I just.. I just came from my History of Magic class, and I fear he saw me tuck the Time Turner away as I had entered the classroom."

Unable to keep eye contact with the Headmaster, she averted her eyes to the blank scroll of parchment laying on a pile of books on his desk. "I didn't think he had recognized what it was, but I should have known better. After dinner he came after me and confronted me about it, and well, there was no point denying what he already knew." Hermione said, sounding genuinely guilty. Though she knew that the guilt wasn't for Malfoy finding out; it was for lying straight to her Headmaster's face. The man had done so much already for Harry, and here she was, repaying him with dishonesty.

Well, it wasn't as if it hadn't happened, because it had, but it wasn't how Malfoy found out.

Looking back up at his face, she thought for a second that she saw a hint of suspicion in his eyes, but it was gone as soon as she saw it, and wondered if it hadn't just been her nerves that made her see things. "I see," he spoke, though his smile hadn't returned yet.

"Mistakes do happen, of course. And I am certain it has never been your intention for Mr Malfoy to find out, but I am sure you understand my concern for his knowledge on this matter, don't you Ms Granger?" Hermione nodded, a look of regained honesty. This was at least something she didn't have to pretend. Of course she could understand his concern for this matter – though she knew it wasn't necessary. If he had only known the real reason how Malfoy had found out, then Dumbledore wouldn't have had to worry right now.

Malfoy might be many things, but as much as Hermione might hate to admit it, he wasn't stupid. He knew as well the consequences of speaking a word about it. Which is why, after all, no one at Hogwarts knew a thing yet.

"Of course, Professor." Hermione said, including an eager nod to show him that she was on his side. "I trust that you will take care of the situation as it has played out? For I am certain that I do not need to remind you of why this is so important."

"I'll make sure he won't be a problem." Hermione assured him, then couldn't help but let a look of confusion wash over her face as she realized how much it sounded like she was going to kill Malfoy. Her words did sound rather threatening, so she felt the need to clarify herself as she began to say: "I mean, not like you know.." but Dumbledore seemed to follow her thoughts before she had to finish that sentence, and released a hearty chuckle.

"Very well, then. You may go now, Miss Granger." The man said, a smile still on his face and something else she couldn't quite distinguish. "Thank you, Professor." She said, and got out of her chair, slinging her bag over her shoulder – though muttered a quick fixing charm on the strap before she did – and left for the door, "Good night," she said, and heard a muffled "Good night," as she closed the door.

As certain as she might have felt in Dumbledore's office – she couldn't help but shake off the uneasy feeling as her own thoughts repeated themselves in her head. Because could she really trust him to not say anything about it at all?

Deciding to ease her anxiety first thing tomorrow by talking to him, she hurried up the many steps to the Gryffindor Tower and rushed into bed, willing sleep to consume her before her own mind did.


	4. Grey lies

**Chapter 4: Grey lies**

 _ **A/N** : I own nothing except my mistakes._

"I wonder what Hagrid's got planned for us this class," Harry said, his voice breathless as they wobbled down the steep hill to Hagrid's hut. "Anything better than whatever creatures he undoubtedly had planned," Ron said, sounding rather excited at that.

Rolling her eyes, she scoffed at his response. "Honestly, Ronald, we should be glad he still _has_ the job. I don't doubt how hard Dumbledore had to fight for that." Harry, walking just a few steps ahead of them, nodded his head in agreement, his brown unruly hair bouncing in the process, "Yeah, but question is: for how long?"

Ron shrugged, though looked rather worried despite his nonchalant voice. "I mean, what can they do to him, really? Malfoy didn't even get hurt that bad. Just a scratch, really."

"Don't forget it's the Malfoy's we're talking about. Remember last year? If Lucius could get Dumbledore suspended, then I can only imagine what he can do this time." Harry said.

Hermione averted her eyes down to the ground, focusing on her feet that lightly kicked the grass beneath them aside as they created their own little path down the hill, careful to avoid any protruding stones from the dirt. _Maybe he didn't get hurt so bad this time.._

Before any memories could come back from just a couple days ago, she focused her gaze back up when they arrived at Hagrid's hut, where the friendly half-giant stood nervously in front of a collected group of students, each of those wearing a mixture of weary, bored and excited faces.

"Right, class," Hagrid said when the trio at last made it all the way down to the group, apparently being the last ones to arrive, "got somethin' prepared for you lot." Several groans passed through the group of students, and some even began to look a little nervous. Hagrid attempted a chuckle, but it came out more like a scared hiccup.

"Not ter worry, it's easy to take care of. We won't even have ter go into the forest." Hermione looked at her best friends, and almost at the same time they looked at her as well, each one of them wearing a questioning expression.

Either he meant it when he said that the creature would be easy to take care of, so easy that it could be done near his hut, or Hagrid had planned something crazy and would be bound to get himself expelled.

"Flobberworms!" He tried so hard to sound excited, but the lack of eye contact with students and the wavering of his voice made it all too clear how insecure he had gotten. All the excitement towards teaching he had just a couple of days ago was completely gone.

Her heart went out for him, and so she gave him an encouraging smile when he glanced their way, though she wasn't able to pretend for long and dropped it the second he looked away again.

Hagrid explained the basic care of the Flobberworms, which was about nothing; _"feed 'em and keep 'em alive, that'll be the assignment for this term,"_ Hagrid had said, and had handed them all a Flobberworm for each student.

Sighing, she followed Harry and Ron to a more shadowed spot near the forest. Even though summer was slowly getting to an end, the sun seemed to feel generous as its warm rays of sunshine shone down brightly, getting her a little too hot for her liking.

"Did you see him? He seemed to have lost whatever confidence he had, poor fellow." Hermione said, shooting a back glance over her shoulder to look at Hagrid, but before her eyes could even find the half-giant – who wouldn't be hard to spot if she had turned her head just a little further – her eyes landed on a certain blond haired boy instead, the Flobberworm laying on a piece of parchment in his hands as the boy kept it as far away from his as possible, dabbing at it with a twig as his face contorted into one of disgust, though a lopsided grin spread across his face as he was cheered on by Crabbe and Goyle.

Malfoy dropped the piece of parchment to the ground next to Crabbe – and not so carefully either – and said something before walking off.

"… when his hearing will be?" Hermione heard Harry say, but dismissed it. "I'm gonna grab us some lettuce," she said, not bothering to wait for a reply as she got up, a quick pace in her step as she approached the wooden block centred near Hagrid's front door, where he had sprawled the lettuce out on.

"Malfoy," Hermione said under her breath, making sure her back was to Harry and Ron so they wouldn't notice her mouth moving. Malfoy, on the other hand, didn't even glance up, his fingers roaming around the lettuce as if he was trying to find the perfect leaf.

"Not interested, Granger." He sounded almost bored, if it wasn't for the malicious undertone to it. "I need to talk to you." She hoped he would notice the urgency in her voice, but even if he did, he didn't seem to be affected by it.

"Didn't you hear what I said? I'm not interested." He plucked one of the leafs from the lettuce, and inspected it for any kind of flaws. Hermione refrained from scoffing. Even if it was about a stupid Flobberworm, expect Malfoy to find the best food to give it, as if anything less than that would poison his own reputation.

"Clearly _you_ didn't hear what I said. It's rather important," she hissed, pretending to look for some good leafs as well. "I really don't care about whatever you want to say."

Gritting her teeth, she chose to stare at his face, hoping that would catch his attention, watching as some blond locks fell gently down as he was hunched over the wooden block, his eyes averted to the lettuce. He still hadn't looked at her.

"Oh would you get over yourself? It's about our Time Turning." With that his fingers froze right before he was about to pluck another leaf, and snapped his head up before quickly glancing around. Doing the same with her eyes, she was relieved to see no one was in earshot.

"Fine. Meet me after dinner." Hermione shook her head, and for the first time he looked at her. His gaze was cold, the grey eyes lacking any sense of comfort in them as he cocked an eyebrow at her, an impatient twitch at his upper lip as it slowly turned into a scowl. "What? Suddenly changed your mind?"

"No, but we can't meet in the castle." Malfoy scoffed, his fingers starting to move again and ripping the leaf rather violently off the lettuce. "And why not?" Hermione shot a quick look around and noticed from the corner of her eyes how Ron nudged Harry, and nodded her way, a look of determined protection on his face, ready to fight Malfoy if he were to lay even one finger on her.

Biting back a smile, she focused back on Malfoy. "I'll explain later, okay?"

Malfoy looked like he was about to lose any self-restraint, which is why she guessed he nodded immediately. Just so he could finally be away from her. "Whatever. Meet me tonight after Slytherin's Quidditch Practice on the field, then."

Hermione frowned in confusion, "What about your teammates?" She could have sworn she saw a vein pulse across his forehead. "Merlin, and they say you're the brightest witch of our age. Wait for them to leave, of course." Malfoy said, shaking his head as he walked away with big strides, muttering all kind of swear words under his breath that she chose to ignore.

Well, at least she managed to get him to meet her. That was a start, at least.

Plucking some more leafs in a bit of a hurry, she scurried back to the boys, who still hadn't taken their eyes off her yet. "What was that all about?" Ron asked, taking the lettuce leaf she offered him and dumping it in front of the Flobberworm, Harry doing the same thing.

"Just Malfoy being himself." Hermione sighed, sitting down on the grass and offering her Flobberworm the leaf, not bothering to wait and watch as he ate it. "He didn't do anything, did he?" Harry asked, and Hermione actually smiled this time at the boys' concern. "No, just rambled on and on about how I fouled his air, and then stormed off."

Though he might not have said that, it wasn't hard to guess that it was what he was thinking the entire time she was talking to him. So with a simple shrug of her shoulders, she felt no guilt for lying about it. It wasn't as if she had enjoyed that conversation, anyway. If anything, none of this was even the slightest bit enjoyable.

-x-

"I'm off to the library," Hermione announced as she untangled her legs from underneath her and got up, giving them a quick wiggle to let the blood rush back into them. "Again?" Ron asked, only looking at her for a second before focusing his gaze back on the Wizarding Chessboard.

Hermione raised an amused eyebrow, looking rather incredulous. "Do you even need to ask?" Harry chuckled at that, and then gave her a wave. Returning it, she said a quick goodbye before leaving the common room, a surge of adrenaline pumping through her veins as she scanned the dark hallway.

Skimming through the corridors and moving down the stairs wasn't even that nerve wrecking. After all, it wasn't past curfew yet and she had every right to roam around the castle. However, the fact that she was heading all the way down wasn't because she went ahead to the library to work on school like she knew she should have, but instead let the mild breeze of wind greet her as she opened the castle walls, letting her feet carry her down to the Quidditch field.

From this distance she could already see a couple of hovering people in the air, swiftly moving around as if it was a choreographed dance.

The closer she came to the field, though, the more people came down from the air, and when she was as close as she could get, she discreetly slipped to the stances and took her place at a Gryffindor stance, knowing the other Slytherins wouldn't see her, anyway. They were all huddled together down on the ground, too focused on their discussion to be bothered to look up.

Scanning the group, however, she grew anxious as she couldn't spot a certain blond haired boy. Had he set her up?

Feeling rather stupid for even coming here, and not having been the one herself to offer a location, she was about to get back up again when her eyes landed on one of the Slytherin stances opposite of hers, and she caught the white locks of hair whirling with the wind.

Of course, he couldn't participate in practice, she observed as she still saw his arm in the sling. Well, no pity there.

One by one the Slytherins below on the ground drooped off the field, and when she looked back up again, she saw that Malfoy was gone.

"Are you kidding me?" Hermione had to stop herself from jumping in place in surprise as she looked up, a bemused looking Malfoy staring back at her. Scowling, she got up from where she sat and approached him, knowing he refused to enter Gryffindor's space. It might not have been bannered with their flag – none of the stances were – but it still remained the Gryffindor spot, nonetheless."What?" She asked, not bothering to hide her irritation. What was his problem this time? 

"D'you know how easily they could have spotted you here?" Rolling her eyes, she shrugged him off. "But they didn't." She pointed out, earning her a sneer.

"What d'you want, anyway? And why couldn't it have been in the castle?" He asked lazily, letting his shoulder rest against the wooden pillar as he leaned against it.

"What happened yesterday on the first floor-" A flash of renewed hatred washed over his face, but he composed himself as quick as it had appeared, and so she went on, pretending she didn't see that, though the agitation in her voice said otherwise, "One of the portraits caught word of us discussing the Time Turner, and went to Dumbledore with it."

Malfoy muttered a stray of curse words about portraits and how they couldn't ever keep their mouths shut, but she interrupted his reverie, not having the time or most importantly, the energy for his nonsense. Being out here with him was bad enough on its own already. It didn't only feel wrong to talk to her supposed enemy, but it felt like she was backstabbing Ron and Harry. An uneasy feeling she couldn't help but shake off.

"Professor Dumbledore called me to his office last night, and asked why you knew and I-" But she was cut off, Malfoy suddenly straightening up, and she saw the muscles in his jaw tense as it set into place. "You didn't tell him what we did, did you?"

"For Merlin's sake, Malfoy, let me finish for once." Hermione hissed. "I told him that you caught view of it by accident and asked me about it. I never mentioned anything that happened."

Malfoy looked genuinely confused for a second, though it didn't seem to rid him of his irritation. "Okay, great, so you lied to the old man. Good on you. Was that why you wanted to talk?"

Clenching her fist, she took a moment to exhale slowly. This boy could get faster on her nerves than even Ron could when he asked for an answer to the most simplest question. "Of course it isn't, you dim witted-" Malfoy quirked a threatening eyebrow, daring her to finish that.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, she composed herself. _Just a few more minutes and you can get out of here._ She reminded herself, and was spurted on by that motivational thought."I just wanted to make sure that we're clear on things."

"What? That we both hate each other and forget we did what we did together so we can move on with our lives?" Hermione raised her eyebrows, but then dismissed what he said. "Well that was obvious to begin with, so no. I meant that no word will ever get out – to anyone, that we even did this thing."

"Malfoy," Hermione said, a bit more gentle this time, and her voice more pressing with urgency, "no one can ever know."

She seemed to have hit a nerve right there, as he took a step forward, as if to intimidate her by using his height to his advantage. Well, she had to admit it wasn't very relaxing knowing he towered above her, but she wouldn't feel threatened. What would he do, anyway? Throw a tantrum? Nothing new there.

Standing her ground, she kept his gaze – which was eerily cold by this point – and kept a hand hovering above her wand in her back pocket just in case. "Don't take me for a fool, Granger. 'Course I wouldn't tell anyone."

Despite his threatening stance, she couldn't help but release a breath of relief. She didn't realize until now how anxious she had been feeling all along about fearing that he might utter a word to someone about it.

"Okay, good, then-" but she never got to dismiss herself from the situation as he abruptly interrupted her. "Same goes for you, though." Hermione gaped, then couldn't help but stutter as she replied. Whether she liked it or not, that comment definitely took her by surprise. "What? No, of course not."

"So neither Potter and Weasel-Bee." He said, a casually cool demeanour replacing his threatening stance from before, as if he took satisfactory and renewed confidence out of her shock. "You can't mean that. Harry and Ron have a right to know." She insisted.

Malfoy cocked an eyebrow, placing his hands in his pockets. He already seemed bored of a discussion they hadn't even started yet. "Do they? I don't see how they do, Granger. What happened has been none of their business."

"Or do I need to remind you that this has been Potter's first time he hasn't been there to play the little hero for once." He sneered.

Hermione wanted to argue until night's end, tell him how they both deserved to know because they were her best friends. But every time she began to speak, the words died on her tongue. Hermione wasn't one for unfair discussion, defending statements that didn't hold any truth.

It's not like she didn't want to fight this with all she had. Because she truly did. Harry and Ron had a right to know because both shared everything with her that they had went through. They were all in it together, no matter what. Keeping this from them, and lying to them for the rest of their lives – she couldn't even begin to imagine the guilt she would feel.

Agreeing to keep this between Malfoy and her felt like betraying her best friends, and for what?

"But why can't they know?" She tried, though the fire in her voice had died out. "Why do you want me to stay quiet?" Draco asked. Hermione furrowed her brows, then spoke as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. "You know why."

Malfoy scoffed, an impatience running in his voice. "Oh, I know. Do you?" Hermione felt stupified, and gave a distant nod. "Then say it, Granger. Answer my question like you always so pathetically answer a teacher's question." He sneered.

Though offended, she was unable to stop herself from answering. After all, she knew why, so why keep the information to herself? "I want you to stay quiet because if word spreads out that we went back in time to alter the outcome, not only Hogwarts would be at risk, but none of us would get to finish their educations. You wouldn't be able to maintain your reputation because you wouldn't be able to land yourself a job and thus will be unable to maintain your family's wealth," she took a quick breath, and kept speaking as if she was reading aloud from a textbook, "Ron, Fred, George and Ginny would never even earn money to support their family, and Harry.."

Hermione fell silent, swallowing as realization dawned on her. "Harry would never learn enough to defend himself against You-Know-Who. Would lose the protection the school and Dumbledore offers him, and would practically be given a death sentence." Her voice died out as she saw the almost cruel smirk plastered on Malfoy's face.

"Glad to hear that you'll be keeping our little secret." And with that he walked past her, leaving her to stare off into the dark as a sense of despair crept into her body. The cold hard truth settling into her veins like a poisonous snake's bite.

She would never be able to tell her friends what really happened. Because even though she knew that they would never utter a word about it knowingly, she knew that they would confront Malfoy, and words exchanged in the castle halls spread faster than a wildfire around Hogwarts, and once word spread out about what happened, the Ministry of Magic would once again be on it, and wouldn't hesitate to not only hold Dumbledore responsible for the Time Turner, but would close Hogwarts for good.

It wasn't just so everyone could finish their educations – it was above all, Harry's protection. How could she possibly ever put that at risk?


	5. The foreseer

**Chapter 5: The Foreseer**

 _ **A/N** : I own nothing except my mistakes._

"Loads of rubbish if you ask me," Hermione scoffed under her breath after Professor Trelawney finished her entire lecture about dreams and their purpose of revealing events that were going to play out later in the future.

"I mean, I don't know, 'Mione. Last night I had a terrible dream about this spider crawling on the wall, and this morning I woke up to find one right on my pillow." Ron shuddered as if a cold breeze just swept through the classroom, his face contorting in disgust at the memory of it.

Shaking her head, she stared at her open textbook, scanning the pictures with an unwavering distrust as one claimed that dreaming about sunflowers meant you'd have a great week ahead. "Don't be ridiculous. Spiders crawl around the castle constantly, one's bound to end up in your bed some time." Harry sniggered, "It'll be the only thing that ends up in your bed as well, mate."

Hermione smacked Harry's arm at his inappropriate joke, but that just made him laugh harder, catching the teacher's attention. "What is it you dreamt, boy? Anything with good wishes?" Professor Trelawney said, her eyes magnified by the glasses she was wearing. Honestly, Hermione couldn't even bear to look into the woman's eyes even if she wanted to try.

"Yes," Hermione said before she could stop herself, "he dreamt he was in this field of daisy's, skidding around in his flowered dress as he chased a bunny around."

A low chuckle was heard behind her, and with a surprised look she wheeled around, only to be greeted by Malfoy staring at her, his eyebrows lifted up in amusement and a smirk on his face that held a hint of disbelief, as if he couldn't believe she'd ever talk back to a teacher.

Well, she couldn't really blame him there. She never would have guessed she would ever do such a thing, either, but this entire Divination class was such rubbish to her, that she didn't even want to try to take it seriously.

"My dear," her professor said, laying a scrawny hand on her shoulder, the many rings she was wearing clinging against one another. Looking at the hand and slowly up to the woman's face, she couldn't help but let one eyebrow raise, and for just a second, she could imagine how Malfoy felt every time he came in accidental contact with her skin. Being touched by someone you didn't want to be touched by felt beyond unsettling.

Trelawney, however, seemed to pay no mind of her discomfort, and tightened her grip as she spoke. "You never seem to have had an interest in the arts of my subject," the woman spoke in grave, as if it was the saddest thing that could happen to someone. "Perhaps, it'd be an idea to drop my class? I have never quite foreseen you staying amidst us for long, after all."

Sneering, she snapped her textbook close and shrugged the woman's hand off her shoulder. "The only time you foresee the future is when it's already happening." Hermione spat, and didn't even bother to pack the book into her bag. It was worthless to her, anyway.

Instead she rose out of her seat and whipped around so she could leave the classroom behind, not sparing a single glance at any staring student. Not even her two best friends. The sooner she'd be able to get out of there, the better.

Storming down the spiral staircase she at last slowed her pace when she was a couple of floors down, and heaved a sigh. It's not like she wanted Trelawney to be right, but she couldn't argue with her on one thing: it indeed would be a lot better for everyone if she were to drop Divination.

With that in mind she wandered down one more floor, and peeked her head around the corner, not sure whether or not Professor McGonagall would be teaching. When it was clear she wasn't, she gave a short knock on the door and waited for the woman to look up and wave her inside.

"How can I help you, Miss Granger?" Her professor asked, having retreated her gaze back down to the papers in front of her, where her quill furiously scribbled away as she corrected people's homework. "Professor, I was thinking of dropping my Divination's class." With that the quill stopped mid-motion, and McGonagall peered over her glasses, her lips quipping up in a hint of a smile.

"I don't think I'll need your reason for resignation," the woman said knowingly, and Hermione gave a sheepish smile. "I thought I could do it, but in my opinion it's all a bunch of nonsense." Her professor nodded, yet was professional enough to not gossip into it, even though Hermione knew that Professor McGonagall had the same vision on Divination as she did.

"Very well, it'll be taken out of your schedule. Perhaps a good thing, too. Despite the extra **time** I have given you, I have no doubt you're still packed with homework." Hermione knew she was referring to the Time Turner, and it made her remember that her Head of House had no idea about anything else that she had done with it; just like her Headmaster.

Preferring to bring an end to the Time Turner conversation, she opted for a quick nod. "Yes, though it's manageable if I plan well." Shooting a quick glance at all the papers that had yet to be graded, she used that as an excuse to get out of there. "I'll leave you to your work, then."

Not waiting for a reply she slipped back out of the classroom, and headed straight for the library. She did, after all, now have a spare hour left, so she might as well make the best of it.

"Hermione," a distant voice said, and it took her a moment until she realized that it belonged to none other than her best friend Harry Potter. With a startle she looked up from the book she was reading, not ever expecting that voice to be heard in a library.

"Harry," she acknowledged in surprise, which earned her a lopsided grin. "Knew I could find you here." Closing her book, she wondered if anything was wrong, and was about to ask, but he went on before she even had the chance. "Ron's already off down to the Great Hall, but I figured I'd come and pick you up. You really need to spend more time on eating than on school." He tried to bring it lightly, but his concern was obvious.

So, with a reluctant sigh she packed her finished essay scroll and packed it into her bag along with her quill, and propped the book she had been reading back onto the bookshelf.

"You know," Harry said as they walked out of the library together, "I didn't think you had it in you." His grin grew as she raised her eyebrows in confusion. "What d'you mean?"

Harry laughed. "Talking back to a teacher like that." Hermione groaned, but couldn't help but give the tiniest of a smirk. "To be honest, I didn't know either." Harry laughed harder at that, and then mockingly ruffled her hair. "Ron and I are very proud of you!" He sung, which made her roll her eyes. "Oh, shut it." She said, a little embarrassed as a group of second years were staring at them weirdly.

"On a more serious note, though," Harry said once he had calmed down a little, "Hagrid has had word about Buckbeak's trial." Hermione slowed her pace, not liking the grim voice. "Well?" She pressed when he remained silent. "They're going to execute him, 'Mione."

They both stopped in their tracks, and Hermione let out a breath of disappointment. "I s'pose Hagrid didn't take that very well." Harry shook his head, "I came across him in the Hallway, it was obvious he'd been crying." His eyebrows furrowed together as he stared off in the distant, as if reliving that memory of the encounter. "He said he appreciated the effort you put into it, though."

"Serves the ugly giant right." A low voice sneered as a shoulder bumped into her, pushing her to Harry. She didn't need to look to know who it was, but yet, she couldn't help but let her fiery gaze shoot to the back of a certain blond haired boy's head. "I know you're cruel, but surely you can't be all together heartless." Hermione spat, which made Malfoy slowly turn around.

"Of course he can, haven't you heard him? He's got no feelings except for when his reputation gets muddled." Malfoy cocked an eyebrow at Harry, and even though he tried to come off careless, she knew he was on the verge of lashing out as she saw a quick tongue licking his lips, a sneer tugging at the ends.

Taking a calculated step forwards, he propped his hands in the pockets of his black robes. "Now now, don't get mad at me. It's not my fault the dumb oaf can't control his birds. That thing lashed out at me. It's out of control, and it deserves its destiny."

Hermione felt the tension in Harry's body, and before she knew it his wand was in his hand and pointed at Malfoy. Though she couldn't blame him, for she would have loved to do the same thing, she knew that it would be an effortless fight, and Malfoy was just doing it to mess him with him.

"Harry, come on, let's go eat, he's so not worth it." She placed a hand on his arm, and tried to push it down – with no success – but after a long staring battle with Malfoy he at last lowered it and jogged off ahead.

Malfoy shot her a victorious smirk, and so without any pardon she bumped her shoulder into him as hard as she could as she passed by him, following after Harry without wasting another breath on that scum.


	6. Timeless

**Chapter 6: Timeless**

 _ **A/N** : I own nothing except my mistakes._

"Tell me, are you incapable of restraining yourself, or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?" Professor Snape spoke, the words gliding over his tongue with a chilling ripple, bouncing off the castle walls, in a classroom that was as silent as a graveyard.

Swallowing, Hermione pursed her lips shut. "Come now, Professor, that's an unfair choice," Malfoy spoke, and her head snapped to his direction so fast she could have sworn she felt a muscle twist. Even Snape bothered to turn his head to him, a nonchalant eyebrow cocked up in surprise, no doubt being less confused than she was.

A smirk then tugged on the corner of his lips, "We all know that she's both." With that Malfoy turned her head to her, giving her smug eyebrow wiggle as his mouth opened in a dark grin, triumphant with his comment.

Rolling her eyes, she just squinted her eyes together in a glare, ignoring the urge to bare her teeth, not wanting to come across as some crazy animal. There were many classes she would have risked talking back to such a comment, but not in Snape's class. That man could find an excuse to put you in detention for simply breathing.

Talking about Snape, her teacher had the faintest of a smirk outlining his lips, then proceeded to centre himself back in front of the class. "He's got a point, you know." A whisper next to her said, and Hermione snapped her head at Ron, throwing him a vicious glare, at which he immediately focused his attention to the front.

Honestly, what was the point of having a best friend when they agreed with your bullies behind your back?

Letting her eyes glide down to her book, she drowned out Snape's lecture about Werewolves. She knew enough about them already, anyway. Fumbling with her quill, she nearly jumped out of her skin when a paper bird flew across her head, and landed next to her, right in Harry's hands.

Glancing over to the side, she saw it was a horribly failed drawing of Harry falling off his broom in a Quidditch match, and she couldn't help but scoff under her breath at Malfoy bothering to be so extremely childish.

Shooting a side glance over her right shoulder, she saw his eyes travelling from someone behind her – presumably Harry – to her, and he cocked her a challenging eyebrow. In turn she opted to shape the words ' _very childish_ ' with her lips, to which she got an exaggerated eye roll.

A knock on the door at the end of the classroom forced Snape to fall quiet in his lecture, and craning her neck further to the back, she watched as Professor McGonagall stood in the opening, her face indifferent as she addressed Snape. "Sorry to interrupt, Professor, but I'd like to have a short word with you."

Looking back to the front she saw Snape giving her a curt nod, and then he let his eyes glide darkly over the classroom. "On my desk by Monday morning I expect two rows of parchment on the werewolf with particular emphasis on recognizing it."

"Sir, it's Quidditch tomorrow." Harry said, and Snape, who was already walking down his aisle, placed both hands on his desk and almost shoved his face into Harry's. "Then I suggest you take extra care, Mr Potter."

Harry leaned slightly back in his seat, obviously trying to get as much distance between them two. "Loss of limb will not excuse you." Snape spoke, then enunciated his final words, "Page three-hundred-ninety-four," before striding out off the classroom.

Hermione watched his black robes swirling behind him, falling out of sight as soon as the door closed behind him. "Two rows of parchment?" Ron exclaimed in ridicule, shaking his head as he picked up his quill. "How are we supposed to find _time_ to write that?"

A low snicker to her right caught her attention, and she jerked her head to look at Malfoy once more. The white-blond haired boy was shaking his head at Ron, and then let his gaze fall on her. "Anything funny, Malfoy?" She said under her breath, which earned her a grin from him.

"I don't know, you tell me, Granger, but I find listening to Weasel's complains very _time_ consuming." Biting her lip, she tried with all her might not to grin. After all, this was her bully, but oh my, the deeper meaning of the pun was just too much for her.

Cracking a smile, she lowered her gaze, not wanting to see his victorious smirk for making her laugh. Yet, as she heard a furious scribble next to her, she couldn't help her curiosity and looked back up, seeing him hunched over a piece of parchment, his quill dancing away over the paper.

Not long after he looked back up as well, his hair falling back into place as the right corner of his lip was quirked up. He fumbled the parchment into a little ball, and then without warning threw it her way.

She caught it just on time before it hit her face, and she propped a questioning eyebrow at him, but he just nodded at the paper in her hands, urging her to fold it open.

Though a bit hesitant, she opened the paper and wiped out the crinkles. There, another horrible drawing moved around on the piece of parchment. This time it was Ron, dangling on her Time Turner necklace, holding on to the chain with a look of sheer panic on his face, and the clock ticking away its hours, going from a few minutes to half past ten to twelve, and back again from twelve to a few minutes to half past ten.

Hermione realised it was the exact time that they had used the Time Turner together, and at that she furrowed her eyebrows together. She hadn't really thought he'd remember that, let alone bring it up again.

Instinctively her hand went to her necklace, feeling reassured when she could feel the Time Turner underneath her shirt. Looking back at the drawing, she couldn't help but wonder about Malfoy. Honestly, nine out of ten times he was a complete jerk, yet here he was, joking around with her.

A classroom door fell shut behind her, and a cold rush of air swept past her as Snape made his way to the front of the classroom once more.

Folding the paper once more, she shoved it in between the pages of her book, and let her fingers trail over the bump it left.

Unable to help herself, she let her eyes travel once more to the boy next to her, and watched as he had a faint smirk on his lips, his hands pulling his book closer to him and opening it up at last to the right page, his hair falling slightly in front of his eyes, though nothing too drastic to actually be able to cover it.

How strange it was that forever they would be the only ones to carry one single memory. A memory that hasn't even been history in this current world except for the two of them. It almost felt unsettlingly intimate, knowing that there was this one thing; something so incredibly crucial that had happened, and that only they had knowledge of.

No other in this classroom knew that Hogwarts was so close to putting out its students, unable to offer any classes. All the points they were scoring for their Houses, all the lectures from their teachers, all the homework they were getting, it had all been so close to coming to an end.

Hang on.

Hermione's head snapped back to her own book and turned one page to see the folded paper again.

Ron.

Time Turner.

The exact time displayed when she and Malfoy had travelled back in time.

It wasn't just a drawing to make fun of her best friend. Ron had been complaining about the homework they were getting, and so she knew that Malfoy must have thought the same thing too. Without them going back in time, right now there would have been no Defence Against the Dark Arts Class, no Snape giving them loads of work to do, no Ron to whine about it.

Surely, she knew, that Malfoy wasn't that sentimental about it all. Heck, she doubted that he even relished in the fact that they had saved Hogwarts. After all, what was the point for him to enjoy something he couldn't brag about?

Yet, how come he bothered to make a clever joke?

Sighing, she slammed her book shut when the bell rang, utterly confused by a boy she couldn't have been bothered with just two months ago.

"What was going on between you and Malfoy?" Hermione turned her head to the side to look at Harry, who looked a bit worried, but mostly utterly confused. Trying not to panic – after all, it's not like anything crazy happened – she tried to reply as casually as she could. "What do you mean?"

Playing innocent. That always seemed to do the trick.

"I saw him toss you a note," Harry and Hermione were separated for a second by an impatient Slytherin pushing through them, weaving her way through a packed hallway of students, "He wasn't picking on you, was he?"

Hermione smiled at him, though it felt a bit pretentious to do so. Here he was, worrying about her, and she still felt like she was constantly placing knives in his back.

"Not me. Just some lame joke about what Ron said." Harry gave her a confused look, his glasses lifting up a little as his brows furrowed together. "Why'd he bother _you_ with that?"

Hermione shrugged, using that gesture to stall a bit of time for her to come up with a lie. Another knife to put in his back. "You know what Malfoy's like. He likes to think Ron and I are a thing, and that he can get me with offending Ron." Her nose scrunched up involuntarily at the mention of them being a couple.

It's not like she didn't love Ron. Sure, she did, but only as a friend. Not in a million years could she think of them together.

Harry seemed to buy her lie, and nodded in satisfaction, his eyebrows lifting as if what she just said made the most sense in the world.

"Speaking about Ron," Hermione began, looking over both her shoulders to find a certain redhead, "where is he?"

With that Harry looked around him as well, and then gave a single shrug. "Probably off to dinner," he guessed. Hermione gave a brief chuckle at that, nodding in agreement.

"You know, Hogsmeade will be open for the Third Year students tomorrow." At that Harry turned grim, fixing his gaze down to the ground. "I'm figuring you haven't got your form signed?" He heaved a sigh, shaking his head. "After I blew up my aunt and ran away it didn't really get a chance."

Hermione refrained from tutting at him again, still highly disapproving of his actions, despite understanding his anger. Honestly, sometimes she worried that his irrational anger outbursts would get him in serious trouble with the law someday.

"And there's no way for you to go? I mean, surely the school will understand why it couldn't be signed." Harry shrugged as they both descended from the last flight of stairs. "Dunno. Planning on asking Professor McGonagall tomorrow."

Nodding, she looked around the Great Hall as she entered it, and a sense of faint relief washed over her when she spotted Ron sitting near his siblings. Call her insane, but whenever she lost one of her friends without warning, she always worried something bad was happening. Perhaps, though, that was because she was best friends with Harry Potter. Anything could happen at any time. Always.

"Hey 'Mione," Ron began, his voice a little too sugar-coated for her liking. Knowing where this was going, she fixed him a glare. "No, Ronald, I will not help you with our Defence Against the Dark Arts essay."

He grumbled, aggressively attacking a cooked potato with his fork. "Oh, come on, why not?"

Hermione gave him an incredulous stare. "You haven't even looked at it! Try it for yourself first, Ron. Besides, you've still got two days." A piece of half chewed potato fell out of Ron's mouth as he went in for a counter argument, making Hermione scrunch her eyes shut in disgust. "Yes, two days for two rows of parchment! It's nuts."

"Ronald Weasley, please do us all a favour and don't talk with your mouth full. It's absolutely disgusting." Ginny scolded. Despite the girl being still so young, she sounded just like her mother. And frankly, Hermione was very glad she said it. Perhaps he would listen to his own sister, because he sure wasn't ever listening to her.

Grabbing herself a serving of potatoes and some green beans, she reminded herself to not make eye contact with Ron for the remainder of dinner if she didn't want to lose her appetite. "Yes, exactly. And if you make me do yours too, I'll be left with four rows of parchment in two days. Additional with extra effort to make yours look bad so it won't look like I did it for you."

She didn't need to look at him to know he was offended. The muffled grumbling said it all.

"How do you mean to do all your work, anyway?" He asked. "Planning, Ron. I've told you before." Shoving some food down in a hurry, she nearly choked on one of her green beans as it went down her throat terribly uncomfortable.

"Yeah, but you seem to plan for more hours than a day actually has." Hermione shook her head, taking a quick sip of water to soothe her throat, then took another bite of her meal. "Don't be crazy, of course I don't. I just plan efficiently using all the time I have."

Having finished half of her dinner, she got up from the table and excused herself. "Which means I better get back to work." Harry looked up at her, falling quiet in his conversation with Dean. "But you've barely eaten!"

"I'm full, anyway." She lied, then picked up her bag and strode out off the hall before they could make any more protests.

She knew she wasn't living the healthiest lifestyle right now. She barely slept, ate just enough to keep her going, and not to even mention the stress. Perhaps stacking herself with so much schoolwork hadn't been the smartest plan, but she didn't regret it either.

Bringing her hand up to her chest she let it rest around her Time Turner.

If all failed, she at least had the ability to give herself some extra time. And that knowledge was all she needed to get through her nights, even if she didn't always have to use it.


	7. Backstabber

**Chapter 7: Backstabber**

 _ **A/N** : I own nothing except my mistakes. **Also,** this chapter will hold quite a lot of time jumping, since some major events from the movie and book will take place (e.g.: Peter Pettigrew's appearance and the time turning) and for obvious reasons I'm going to skip those events, and only focus on the Draco and Hermione parts that will actually be necessary for this fanfiction. It's a bit of a mess, maybe, but please do forgive me and do expect a more organized chapter after this!_

"It's such a pity Harry couldn't come with us," Hermione sighed, digging her heels into the snow as she walked up the hill with Ron alongside her. "Yeah, he would've really liked it."

Reaching the top of the hill, she could see a dark outline in the far distance, its actual design covered by the soft snowflakes falling down. "What's that?" Hermione asked, taking a couple of steps closer. "Oh, that? It's the Shrieking Shack. It's said to be haunted." Ron gave a little chill beside her, though she doubted it was because of the cold.

Scoffing, she propped her hands into her pockets for warmth. "Haunted? Don't be ridiculous, why would a building be haunted?" Ron leaned himself on the fragile looking fence pillar, which seemed to have weakened due to the cold. "Villagers claim to have heard screaming coming from the place. It's been abandoned ever since."

Fascinated, and a little unconvinced, she tried to squint to get a better view, but it seemed useless. "Want to look a little closer?" She wasn't one for buying folklore without seeing it for herself.

"Isn't that place just right up your alley, Weasel-Bee?"

Wheeling around, she saw Malfoy coming down the hill they had just come from, strutting in his black coat, his furry hat resting easily on his head. Behind him were Crabbe and Goyle, looking dull as always, with their wicked grins on their faces.

"Are you sure you can afford such a grand place, Weasel-Bee?" Malfoy asked. "Don't you and your family sleep in one room." Hermione gave him a crossed look, but that only seemed to intensify his smug smirk. "Shut your mouth, Malfoy." Ron muttered, though his cheeks lit up in embarrassment.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow in feigned offense. "That's not very nice," he mocked, then looked at both Crabbe and Goyle. "I think it's time you learn how to respect those who are better than you." He said, tugging on his coat, and dusting it off with a controlled hand, the corners of his lips tugging up in wild confidence.

It was hilariously embarrassing, to be honest.

Letting out a humorous laugh, Hermione took a step forward, almost feeling the need to shield Ron from someone so vile. "I don't think you're the right person for that, then."

With that his smirk fell, and he took a step closer to her. It was quick, and bigger than she had anticipated. Without a warning he was right up in her face, his brows furrowed together in mild disgust, and his mouth formed into a sneer. "How dare you talk to me, you filthy little Mudblood," he spat.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she took a staggering step back. His eyes followed her every move, and his eyes seemed to soften, though a jerk of his lips made it turn up into a triumphant smile.

It was for that reason that she was beyond thrilled to see a snowball flying straight to the back of his head, planting itself in there with a loud thud.

Malfoy quickly turned around at that, nearly bumping into her in the process, and even Hermione let her eyes roam around to find the source of it.

She heard some shuffling behind her, and a second later Ron appeared on her right side, frantically searching with his eyes as well.

Now she didn't only feel the warmth of Ron's body beside her, but she also felt Malfoy's, who had apparently not noticed how he had closed the proximity between them in his frightful search at the unknowing flying snowball.

"Who is there?" Standing so close to him, she could hear the light shake in his voice, and she couldn't help but scoff under her breath. The boy acted so tough and superior, as if nothing could ever intimidate him. Yet, here he was, afraid of an unknown source.

His question got answered by another snowball thrown into his face, which made him take a step back, arms flying around and hitting her in the arm, which she cursed him for. Not the most lady like thing to do, but blimey, that really hurt.

Now a series of snowballs were flying around, hitting Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, and it didn't take her long to figure out that Harry was behind this charade.

Laughing, she enjoyed seeing Malfoy in misery for once, and the scare on Ron's face was what made it absolutely perfect.

"Harry," she chuckled as he played with her hat when the other trio had run away. Harry threw off his invisibility cloak, laughing in the process. "Scared me there for a second, mate." Ron breathed, a look of relief glued to his face.

-x-

A bone shattering chill went down her spine as she walked past the executor sharpening his axe. Not only the shrieking of metal against stone brought shivers on her, but what absolutely sickened her to her stomach was the passionate smile on the man's face, coming from out of his mask.

"I can't believe they're doing this." Hermione said, biting on her lip to not get choked up in her emotions. She had fought so hard for Hagrid's case, and to see it turned out like this, all because of Malfoy, made her blood boil with fury.

The boys remained silent by her side, hurrying their steps along to get away from the man, all of them trying their hardest to not let their minds trail to where that axe would soon find its new home.

They crossed the wooden bridge, and even though normally Hermione would always take a wandering glance around; admire the scenery, her gaze was now fixed right in front of her, focusing on making it down the hill to Hagrid's Hut.

But they never made it that far.

"How nice of you to join!" Draco exclaimed, a grin tugging on the right corner of his lips.

That's it. That's the last drop she could take from him. With a good stride she managed to close the gap between the two groups in just two steps, and she had her wand pointed straight at the sweet spot beneath his eyebrows.

A string of curses were all dancing around in her mind, one not quite as satisfying as the other. "This is all your fault, Malfoy," She hissed, her jaws clenched together as she took satisfaction out of his shaking lips.

She knew he was about to make a remark, so she reminded him that he was the one who had a wand pointed at him. "Hermione, don't," she heard from behind. Presumably from Ron, who was as concerned about her well-being as always.

Keeping her gaze fixed at the white blonde haired boy in front of her, she watched how his hair had shaken up, half covering one eye, and how his eyebrows were twerked up, a shocked expression taking place in his usual smug face. Not so very confident now, she supposed.

"You foul git," she said, and let her wand arm drop. Before he had time to recover, though, she let herself have the satisfaction of having her fist collide with his face, putting all her anger into it in the hopes that he would get the note that what he did was unforgivable.

Avoiding eye contact with her, he grabbed Theo and Crabbe and dragged them away as they moved to the bridge they just came off from.

"Bloody hell," Ron exclaimed, and as Hermione turned around, she saw both of the boys grinning in pride, and so she couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "That's exactly what I needed." She sighed, then let her smile falter as she turned back around and looked at Hagrid's hut in the distance.

-x-

"Bit peculiar, don't you think?" Hermione stopped mid-stride as a voice loomed in the shadows. She was about to make her way back to the dormitories after a long night. Peter Pettigrew's appearance, Sirius Black turning out to actually be a good guy, and helping Buckbeak escape wasn't exactly something she had planned to experience tonight.

Neither had she expected to have a certain someone go ahead and bother her this late at night, when all she wanted to do was sleep. "What do you want, Malfoy?" It would be a lie if she said that she tried to hide her aggravation. She didn't.

"Sirius Black escaping a Dementor's kiss, Buckbeak, who was sentenced to death, somehow managed to escape.. do explain to me, Granger, the one who is supposedly the Brightest Witch of her age, how this managed to happen?" He was mocking her, a dangerous snarl playing on his lips as he stepped out of the shadows.

If he tried to intimidate her, well, he was quite succeeding. Though, she wouldn't let him know that, of course. "I don't know, Malfoy. Dumb luck, perhaps? The fate of the universe? You tell me, after all, I quit my Divination classes. I'm sure you're far more skilled in this than I am."

A tug on his lips was all that changed in his expression as he closed the gap between them. "D'you want to know what I think, Granger?" She crossed her arms, partly to seem casual and unaffected, but also to try to create a sense of security, as he was seriously stepping into her little personal space.

"Enlighten me, Malfoy." She said, raising one eyebrow as if challenging him to convince her. "I think you aren't such a perfect student every Professor likes to believe, after all. No, I think you just broke so many rules that you could be kicked out this very second if the Ministry somehow caught word of how you've been using your Time Turner."

He was circling around her now, keeping his voice low. He was playing a game with her, threatening her, but he wasn't foolish enough to speak too loud. He wanted to have the advantage of feeling empowered, and he possibly couldn't if a passer-by would catch word of what he was saying by accident.

"Or am I perhaps wrong?" He stopped in front of her, duplicating her raised eyebrow and challenging her in the same way. "What I think, Malfoy," she began to say, but had to take a second to suppress a cough, "is that you're grasping in the dark to find ways to hold any kind of power over me. You see, even if what you said was true, what proof do you possibly have?"

It was her turn to take step closer now. He caught her off guard, yes, but she refused to be threatened. Especially by Malfoy.

"Is that so?" He scoffed, seemingly unaffected by her move. Hermione nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "The thing is, Malfoy, that we both know that you can't go to the Ministry for this. Even if you somehow managed to proof my actions."

He squinted his eyes together, clearly suspicious at what she was saying. "Oh yeah, and why's that?"

"It's very simple, honestly. The Ministry keeps record of all time travelling, so yes, you indeed would have documented proof of tonight's events. Sure enough, they don't know exactly what happened, but we both know they'd be smart enough to figure out that things didn't add up, and would figure out the truth sooner or later." He seemed triumphant with this information, so she quickly continued to shatter his hopes.

"Which also means tat they could track back our little trip to save Hogwarts." At this his smirk faltered. "Or did you forget that you participated in an illegal action? And not only did you go against the law of the Ministry of Magic, that your father works for as well, but you also did it alongside a Muggleborn."

It was her time to smirk, though it didn't come as natural to her as it did to him. "So, by all means, Malfoy, do step off now to the Ministry. Even better, I'll write them a letter on my behalf. Or instead, be smart and stay quiet. Because like it or not, there's only so much your precious Father can save you from. And escaping the Ministry's punishment, isn't one of them."

Prodding a finger into his chest, she let out a sneer. "Don't you ever think of threatening me again. You and I are in the same boat. And you can rock it as much as you want, but do it too much, and I'm not the only one who will be going down."

With that she had had enough, and bumped her shoulder into him on purpose as she walked away, but she didn't get very far. His slim fingers had already snaked around her arm, keeping a firm grip on it as he forced her to a halt.

"Don't think for a second that we're on good terms, simply because we're sailing in the same storm." Yanking her arm free, she looked over her shoulder and easily found his eyes that were a little too close for her liking.

"I wouldn't even dream of it. As long as we just keep sitting still, we should be all good." With that she was about to leave once more, but again she was held back. Releasing a frustrated sigh, she completely turned her body to him now. "Merlin, Malfoy, what else do you want to hear?"

His usual grey eyes were dimmed in the poorly lit corridor, and Hermione barely caught it, but the hitch in his breathing betrayed his discomfort from the closeness between them. Yet they both knew the tricks of persuasion. If you want something, then invade someone's personal space. They'll be more likely to be persuaded. Which made her wonder what he could possibly want from her.

"Well?" She pressed as he still hadn't answered. "An agreement," was all he said. Scoffing, she was about to walk away for real now. "So, let me get this straight. First you threaten me, and now you demand an agreement?"

Malfoy clicked his tongue in impatience. "The idea of sharing this single memory with you disgusts me," Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but he hushed her – which offended her even more. "Yet it got me thinking."

Hermione let out a dry chuckle. "Do enlighten me," she scoffed. "Considering I did help you save Hogwarts, I figured it's only fair that you help me get top of the class." She didn't mean to, but she burst out laughing straight at his face. "You're joking, right? What, second best not good enough for you?"

Malfoy clenched his jaw, a heavy breath filling the silent corridor. "Honestly, I refuse to let you better me in my classes. Besides, I've already stabbed my best friends in the back enough times by keeping this from them. There's no way I'm going to help our enemy get better grades."

He shook his head, "I don't need you to tutor me, Granger. Just need you to give me some lenience once in a while to top you off, even if it's for a short amount of time." She knew there was something he was keeping from her. The actual reason why he wanted this, he still hadn't mentioned.

"What do I get out of it?" He raised both his eyebrows, as if he couldn't possibly believe she might want something in return as well. "Summer vacation will be up tomorrow. How about I leave you and your dimwitted friends be for the next year?" She saw the pain in his face as having to say that.

Now, she knew it wasn't a glamorous agreement. She got less out of it than he did, but then again, they both owed each other. Like it or not, they both couldn't have saved Hogwarts without the other. Might as well spend it on something as useless as this, right? After all, if it's only a few classes she'd be a bit less in.. well, she could temporarily live with that heartbreak.

Chewing on her lip, she gazed a little longer in his expectant eyes. "All right, but if at any point you bother my friends, the deal is off." He waved her off with his hands. "Whatever, as long as you keep your end of the deal."

Nodding, she tried desperately to ignore the tinge of guilt that stabbed her in the heart. She was becoming convinced that she would soon run out of daggers to stab her friends with in the back. _There's no other way, besides, I'm only doing them a favour._ She said to herself, but it didn't convince her one bit.

With that Malfoy began to walk away, but she couldn't help but ask one thing. Now that they were being less angry, and all that. "So how did it feel doing some good in the world for once?" He stopped, turned his body around, and gave her an impatient look. "What are you talking about, Granger?"

"Don't know if you realized, but we just saved Hogwarts this year. Enemies or not, that's pretty impressive." Malfoy scoffed under his breath, then turned around, walking away and saying: "It does more harm than good."

With a shake of her head she walked away in opposite direction, unable to do feel that hint of pride. Truthfully, she meant what she said. It was very impressive to do, indeed. Even though she would have done anything to not have Malfoy be the person she had to save Hogwarts with.

It was odd, too, knowing the year had come to an end, and soon their past would be forgotten by anyone else besides them, and their current present would remain in each and everyone's memory. No one would know how close Hogwarts had been of closing, and Draco and Hermione forever had a secret to keep.

Who would have thought that she'd be sharing a memory with her enemy? And who would have thought that even sharing a secret with your enemy could be so much more difficult than anticipated?

 _ **A/N:** As you might have guesses, their Third Year has now come to an end! However, in the next chapter I'll continue with them for their Fourth Year, and have got some exciting things planned. So, I'll be glad to welcome you back for that!_


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